


When in Rome

by meggiewrites



Category: Men's Football RPF
Genre: Established Relationship, German National Team, Implied Relationships, Inspired by Real Events, M/M, Sneaking Around, Too much fluff, Touristy Stuff, Vatican, the reason why Mats' hair looked the way it did, tokens of affection
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-17
Updated: 2017-07-17
Packaged: 2018-12-03 07:00:27
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,780
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11526993
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/meggiewrites/pseuds/meggiewrites
Summary: November 2016. The DFB is in Rome. Mats is in love.





	When in Rome

**Author's Note:**

> This has been in my drafts since November, and I finally found the muse to finish it. A a big big thank you to my beta [Khalehla](http://archiveofourown.org/users/Khalehla) ♥ you're the best.

Mats wakes up to Benedikt’s hair in his mouth, tasting of sweat and shampoo. It’s not exactly a pleasant feeling, but it still puts a smile on his face. Waking up with Bene cuddled up to him has been an all too rare experience ever since he moved back to Munich, and once again it takes him by surprise how much more rested he feels whenever they get to sleep in the same bed, skin to skin, heart to heart. Warm breath is tickling his chest, and Mats lifts a hand to gently card it through light hair. Bene shuffles around a bit before moving his arm to wrap it around Mats’ torso, giving his side a little squeeze.

Mats’ smile grows even wider. “’Morgen Bene.”

He loves how attuned to each other they are, how used he is to the fact that when one of them wakes up, the other will follow only a short moment later. But Bene just grumbles and presses his face into Mats’ shoulder.

“C’mon, sleepyhead. I need to get back to my room before someone notices, and for that, I hate to say it, you need to let go off me at some point.”

He gently brushes over his other half’s cheek in adoration, but still he just gets a mumbled answer that suspiciously sounds like “don’t wanna”, but still, Bene leans into his touch, his eyes closed contently. It’s not all that hard for Mats to decide to indulge both of them for a bit longer as he presses a kiss to Bene’s head, letting his fingertips ghost over the fine hair on his neck.

In the end, about ten minutes of cuddling and soft, misplaced kisses later, he needs to resort to forcibly removing himself from Bene’s grip, who apparently decided to clinging to him like an oversized koala in order to keep him there. Mats ignores the voice at the back of his mind that asks for the same thing, though after he’s put on his shirt and sweatpants, he lets himself be pulled down for a couple more short kisses, their noses bumping against each other. He can feel Bene’s smile against his lips but just as he’s on the brink of stopping giving any kind of fuck and just staying, Bene gently flicks his head, grinning up at him.

“Go. Before someone ends up in front of your door wanting to talk to you and gets Jogi because you’re not answering.”

Mats groans and turns to leave, but not before stealing a final peck from Bene’s lips.

 

It’s quiet in the old hotel. The DFB rented out the entire floor – it’s surprisingly empty and once Mats checks his phone, he realizes it’s still more than an hour before breakfast is scheduled, which explains the apparently deserted corridor. A bit of the tension falls off of him – they’d been doing this sneaking around thing, one way or another, for too many years now for it not to feel like a routine, and not always were the situations as easy to handle as this.

When he suddenly hears someone talking from the alcove on his left, making him jump, he has to admit that he may just have been a smidge too careless this time.

Thomas looks just as blindsided as he feels – he’s stopped talking, but his phone is still pressed to his ear. He’s sitting by a window overlooking the small hotel park, wearing nothing but sweatpants and a t-shirt with the DFB logo.

Mats lets out a sigh of relief. The Bavarian is one of the few who know about him and Bene, having found out when he caught them making out once, back in Brazil. The fact that Mats can be open about his relationship with him is one of the reasons they’ve been getting along so well since Mats had transferred to Bayern.

Now, his teammate squints up at Mats, as if not immediately recognizing who’s standing in front of him. His eyes are a bit red, and for a moment the two of them just wordlessly stare at each other before Thomas startles, realizing his in midst of a conversation and turning his attention back to his phone call.

“Hey babe, I gotta go now, Mats is here. Yeah. Take care, and – try to get some rest, no matter how much you feel like throwing up. Yeah, I … love you too. Bye.”

“Lisa?”

Thomas just shrugs, rubbing his eyes, trying to wipe the remnants of sleep away as well as the melancholy Mats sees in them. Both of them say nothing a few moments, until a tiny smirk starts tugging at Thomas’ mouth and he clears his throat.

He nods down the hall, in the direction where Mats came from. “Bene?”

Mats huffs, crossing his arms in front of his chest, and stays defiantly silent. By then, Thomas is grinning widely.

“Well, then better get back to your room, loverboy, before someone else catches you on your little walk of shame.” And with a wink and a crooked grin, he stands up and swiftly disappears behind the nearest door, the one Mats assumes leads to his own room.

Thankfully, he encounters no one else on his way back to room number 155, and once he’s closed the door behind him, he lets out a breath of relief he didn’t know he’d been holding. He lets himself fall on the bed, staring up at the ceiling, wondering what kind of life he’s leading that sneaking around in hotels feels not only normal, but familiar and almost comforting.

 

He falls asleep again, making him almost late for breakfast. When he finally stumbles into the dining hall, Bene is already there, sitting at a table close to the windows with Draxler and his club teammates Max and Leon.

When Mats joins them, he jovially claps Bene on the back as if it was the first time they’d seen each other that day, but he easily picks up on the mischievous spark in his lover’s eyes as he smiles up at him, scooting to the side a bit to make room for Mats on his right.

Only a few minutes later they’re joined by both Joshua and Thomas, the latter behaving a lot more like himself than he did earlier that morning.

They don’t have much time to enjoy the sumptuous buffet because Jogi comes to inform them about the day’s program – a guided tour, including a visit to the _colosseo_ and two separate thematic walks in the afternoon – and ushers them out the room only 30 minutes later.

Mats hasn’t been to Rome before, so he soaks up all the information that the audioguide they get handed provides him with, whereas he can see the younger ones getting distracted, joking around and taking selfies. He spots Bene standing around with the younger Schalke players, dutifully playing his role as a good mentor, whereas Thomas seemingly has given up on lecturing Joshua and is instead checking his phone.

In the end, Mats joins the selfie taking fun and snaps a picture with Ilkay before wandering over to where Bene is still chatting to an ever-growing group of younger teammates. He acknowledges Mats with a blinding smile and a tilt of his head.

After that, they stick together for the rest of the tour, and once he can hear Mesut mumbling something like ‘in their own little world’ as he walks past them, but he spots the underlying fondness.

As usual, conversation between Mats and Bene flows easily, and by the time they re-enter the bus, this time sitting next to each other, they’re already on the topic of Dan Brown’s novels in anticipation of the second tour of the day.

“I can’t believe you’ve never seen Illuminati! I mean, the book is a lot better anyway, and I do realize that most people only watched the movie. But honestly! It’s almost like a modern classic – everyone knows it!”

Bene laughs fondly, shaking his head. Both of them decide to join the Illuminati tour that afternoon, and Mats has to admit he looks forward to the secret passageways and the stunning locations the filmed had been shot at.

After a nice lunch that the whole team spends on the balcony of a nice restaurant close to the Spanish Steps, they split up in two groups.

The tour is actually more interesting and less trivial than Mats expected, offering some facts on the story itself, the movie production as well as some of the historical and political backgrounds. He himself tries to contribute as much as he can, remembering some little things from the novel that the tour guide leaves out, by whispering them directly in Bene’s ear.

Also, by now he’s regretting putting on a beanie additionally to his thick jacket, since it’s shaping up to be almost uncomfortably warm for a November’s day. Bene’s already teased him about his choice of attire earlier that morning, a statement he only dignified with a huff and a “I get cold easily, Benedikt. You know that. And you’re wearing a scarf, too!”

Bene had smirked, quickly checking that no one was watching them before swiftly pecking him on the cheek and whispering “Oh I know. But in an emergency, I can always warm you up” directly into his ear, causing a light blush to spread over Mats’ cheeks.

 

They’re given a bit of free time after the tour ends, with strict instructions to return to the bus in two hours time, and immediately after Olli allowed them to take their leave, Bene tugs Mats away by his sleeve.

Somehow they end up in a small café in comfortable distance from the tourist attractions. Some of the customers shoot them curious glances, but that might be only because Mats starts complaining loudly in German once he realizes he can’t order his favourite, caramel macchiato, while Bene shoots him an amused look. No one seems to recognize them, a suspicion only confirmed when most people quickly go back to their own coffee, book, conversation or electronic device.

Bene ends up ordering for both of them, and Mats starts to wonder where he picked up snippets of Italian (which is more than Mats knows about the language) and he returns to their table with two tiny steaming cups.

Mats crinkles his nose in disgust. “Espresso? Really?”

Bene laughs, almost a bit deviously (he knows exactly that Mats hates black coffee, that fucker) and takes a tiny sip of his coffee before beaming at him.

“Believe me, this is a lot better than the stuff they serve back home.”

Mats sighs dramatically, rolling his eyes before drowning the cup in one gulp, immediately pulling a face.

“Oh come on, it’s not that bad,” Bene says, looking very cultured with his own espresso cup and his nice coordinated outfit.

Despite the stale taste in his mouth, Mats feels something warm and pleasant tingling in his stomach and he can’t stop a wide smile from appearing on his features. Following a sudden impulse, he extends his hand under the table, letting his fingertips ghost over Bene’s thigh.

Bene gets the hint quickly and laces their fingers together, hidden from view. He sighs happily, his eyes crinkling at the corners.

“You know, this is almost romantic.”

Mats can only nod, smiling so wide it’s actually getting a bit uncomfortable, while squeezing Bene’s hand, trying very hard – and failing –to not get lost in his partner’s eyes.

The waiter shoots them a curious look when she comes to take their empty cups away and hand them the bill, so Mats reluctantly untangles his fingers from Bene’s and pulls out his wallet.

They take their time when walking to the bus, letting themselves get distracted by some of the more touristy shops. Mats buys a few postcards, asking Bene to request for some stamps for him, who then only shoots him a fond look before returning not only with said stamps but also a small package that he lets slip into his pocket before Mats has a chance to ask about it. They end up being five minutes late, and while Jogi shoots them a disapproving look, Mats can’t help noticing that a lot of the youngsters are still missing, too. Oh well, he assumes they should be the perfect role-models anyway, and that’s why the boss didn’t like any of the senior players being late.

Thomas is already there, sitting on a wall close to the bus by himself. He slips the phone into his pocket as he notices them approaching him, shooting them one of his signature smiles, even something about his posture makes him seem a bit more worried and less happy-go-lucky than usual.

 

Bene falls asleep on Mats’ shoulder on their way back to their hotel, drearily blinking up at him when he gently shakes him awake again once they arrive.

They get some free time after dinner, even though they shouldn’t leave the hotel and get advised to go to bed early – they’re expected at the Vatican at eight, after all, and you don’t show up late for a meeting with the pope.

Most of the team spends the evening together in the special lounge of the hotel that’s reserved only for them. Someone ends up putting Illuminati on the TV, but no matter how much Mats tries to get Bene to pay attention, his fellow defender still ends up almost falling asleep next to him for the second time that day.

In the end, after Mats has shaken him awake for the fourth time, Bene lets them all know that he’s going to bed, softly shaking his head as Mats looks at him expectantly.

Mats sighs. Bene’s right, as much as he hates to admit it; they likely wouldn’t get much sleep if they spent the night together, and with having to get up so early and Bene being obviously tired, it made sense to stay in their own rooms. Also, the chances of getting caught would be a lot higher if everyone was already up before 6 am. Still, it feels unfair that when they, for once, have the opportunity to spend the night together for several days in a row, there are external circumstances preventing it.

 

Unsurprisingly, Mats doesn’t sleep well that night. He slips in and out of sleep, and at one point he seriously considers getting up and knocking on Bene’s door after all, before quickly discarding the thought again.

His alarm clock rings way too early, making him groan and pull the pillow over his head.

As he stumbles his way downstairs he’s joined by Sami who shoots him a curious glance once he notices the bags under his eyes.

“Short night?” he asks with amused smirk.

Mats groans, for once not caring to deny Sami’s long-lasting suspicions about him and Bene. Most of the senior players knew or suspected anyway.

“I wish.”

Sami makes a sympathetic noise, patting his shoulder.

The breakfast ends up being an even shorter ordeal than the day before, Mats this time sitting with his Bayern colleagues and a few of the Dortmund pack, but in the bus he still manages to snatch a place at the table where Bene apparently saved a seat for him.

Thomas plops down next to Mats, but he’s quick to take out his phone again, starting to text immediately. Mats has half a mind to ask who’s he’s writing to so frequently. It’s out of character, Mülli isn’t usually someone who’s on his phone all the time, and he knows from Cathy that he and Lisa don’t actually text that often, since they’re both very busy all the time.

Somehow, Bene ends up distracting him by teaching him some Italian. They’re already in their suits, and Bene teases him about his pronunciation by poking him in the side, earning some offended cries from Mats who’s convinced that he doesn’t sound so bad, thank you very much. It doesn’t take too long before Thomas joins their little discussion too, putting his phone away.

They’re still talking about the proper use of “ciao” when they leave the bus, but the conversation quickly ceases once they’re introduced to the archbishop Georg Gänswein. This whole experience feels strangely out of place, in a way that Mats hasn’t quite experienced before. Bene seems a bit jittery too, whereas Thomas seems quite relaxed again, talking to Miro, his mouth going a mile an hour, and Mats takes a minute to remember that he’s had an audience before with Bayern, not too long ago.

The formal instructions are actually quite boring, and Mats catches himself drifting several times. He’s wearing his glasses, as he’s been doing a lot lately, since his contacts at the time don’t seem to agree with his eyes all too well. He doesn’t pay too much attention to the gorgeous artwork of the decorated marble hallways they pass by, rather distracted by observing Bene as he listens to the archbishop way more attentively.

In the end, they have to wait for a short moment before the actual audience. Bene shuffles from one foot to the other, and at one point he must have caught Mats staring, because he suddenly looks up to him, a sly smirk creeping onto his lips before turning back to the clergyman.

“Your excellence? Could I use the bathroom real quick?”

Mats lifts a single eyebrow.

Benedikt nods politely as he receives directions to the next bathroom (down the hall, then turn left, the third door on the right) and Mats isn’t at all surprised when Bene ushers him along.

He’s close to making a quip about girls who can’t go to the bathroom alone, but he gets interrupted before he even started, because as soon as they’ve rounded the next corner, Bene presses him against the wall, well hidden in a little alcove decorated with the painting of a female saint.

For a moment Mats feels a bit overwhelmed, and it takes him a moment to realize that he’s being kissed. It’s heated from the start and Mats can feel Bene panting against his lips, one hand buried in his dark curls, supporting himself on the embellished wall with the other.

Bene presses their bodies against each other, and Mats feels both their hearts racing. He opens his lips, and Bene eagerly slips his tongue in between his lips. He still tastes a bit like the lemonade he’d been drinking in the bus.

Sighing into the kiss, Mats wraps his arms around Bene’s shoulders. He’s aware that both their suits are getting messed up, feels the glasses sitting askew on his nose and he doesn’t even want to know about the state of his hair, but at the moment he couldn’t care less.

When they finally have to come up for air, their kiss dissolving into a series of ever-shortening pecks, Mats gently rubs his nose against Bene’s.

“What was that all about, then?” he whispers.

Bene just lets out a happy sigh, kissing Mats on the corner of his mouth.

“Do you have any idea how good you look in that suit and with your glasses? You look like some kind of fancy art history student, I swear.”

“You like that, huh?” Mats grins.

“I like you always,” Bene says, threading his hand through Mats’ curls, gently caressing his scalp.

Mats laughs lightheartedly, and the butterflies in his stomach start to somersault. He gives Bene one last smooch on his cheek.

“ _You’re_ a work of art, Bene.” He gives his shoulders a squeeze before pushing himself away from the wall, only stopping when he sees the dismayed look in Bene’s eyes.

“What?”

Bene bites his lip. “You look like we just had a quickie in the bathroom.”

Benedikt himself of course looks still as polished as before, his suit not even notably wrinkled, but Mats is still too high on endorphines to care.

He shrugs. “Well, close enough, I guess.”

He runs a hand through his hair, and judging from Bene’s stare, he’s probably only making it worse.

It’s in that moment that a distraught looking Julian (Draxler, and why did the DFB have to call up a gazillion of players with the same name?) appears in his field of view, letting out a relieved sigh as he spots them.

“There you are! Jogi sent me to look for you. We have to be ready in five minutes.”

If he notices that Mats looks distinctively more dishevelled than before, he doesn’t say anything.

They hurry back to the team, and it’s only shortly before the reach them that Bene lets out a disbelieving huff.

Mats looks at him expectantly.

“We just made out in the Vatican, the center of Catholicism. A few centuries ago we could have been killed for that.” He talks quietly, eyes still on Jule who is walking in front of them, but the younger player doesn’t seem to have heard. Miro looks over his shoulder to frown at them, but Mats can’t help beaming back at him. And when the smallest smile makes his way on to the top-striker’s lips before he turns back around, Mats knows that they’re off the bat.

He raises his eyebrows before once again wrapping an arm around Benedikt’s shoulders.

“Well thank god we were born in this century then, right?”

 

That evening, Bene is the one to sneak into Mats’ hotel room. Mats quickly puts his book down, opening his arms for Bene to crawl into, who gladly snuggles up to him. He pulls away again, though, only to reveal the little package he’d bought back in Rome, gently putting it into Mats’ hands.

Quickly tearing through the thin paper, Mats reveals two small little silver pendants engraved with the she-wolf and the twins Romulus and Remus.

“Since people had picked up on our matching bracelets, I thought we might give something else a shot. We can wear this under our shirts, with different chains so no one notices the similarity.”

Mats gulps before letting his hand look for Bene’s, interlocking them.

“I know, it’s nothing special, just a souvenir, but I really had a great time these past few days, and I wanted something to remember it, and look!” – he turns over one of the pendants, revealing tiny script – “I had them especially engraved, too. It only took a minute.”

Mats lifts one of them up closer to his eyes because of his short-sightedness before carefully placing the pendants on the bedside table and turning to kiss Bene, smiling against his lips.

They become adjoined, just like the tiny M+B etched into the jewellery.

 

**Author's Note:**

>   * The ending is way too fluffy I apologize
>   * I tried to keep this as accurate as possible to the actual events
>   * Here are the [two](https://tv.dfb.de/video/ausfluege-in-rom/16165/) [videos](https://tv.dfb.de/video/nationalmannschaft-zu-besuch-beim-papst/16177/) I modeled this whole thing around 
>   * Since I couldn't figure out which tour either of them joined in the afternoon, I decided to let them have some fun on the illuminati tour
>   * What's up with Thomas? Well, if you know me, you probably know why he's worried
>   * I have a 'when in rome' tag on my [tumblr](http://manuelmueller.tumblr.com/tagged/when-in-rome)
>   * I write FICTION about real people. None of this is intended to harm them or their reputation in any way
> 

> 
> Leave kudos and comments if you liked it!


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